Monday Morning... Again.

I tell you, it feels like the weekend speeds by real fast, don't it?

I need a good 4 day weekend. Several in a row!

LOL

Anyway, it rained cats and dogs last night in my beloved ATL. At least it's cool outside right now, 72 degrees. I think it will get up to 85 degrees today.

I am happy for that.

My weekend. Goodbye Milk and Cookies. My weekend was very slow. I like slow. This week is going to be hectic. I have to travel for the job (which I am NOT happy about) next week, so it was a good thing to relax this weekend.

One thing I did: I went to a going away gathering for my brother Milk and Cookies, who will be shipping out to Iraq next month. He has been in the ATL for two weeks. So I think he may be leaving this week.

I haven't seen him since January 2008, after a big fight we had. I won't go into it, and those who know me know what went down. But since he's going away, I was asked to stop by.

I make it a rule NOT to go to family gatherings. There's just waaaaay too much stress involved.

I am a staple at the family gatherings of my friends. You know it's bad when other people's family members are like

"Hey, where's your friend? Is she coming by? Is she bringing those cookies?"

LOL

My sister Kentucky had been discussing all this with me, and was planning a self serve taco bar, and was trying to figure out what to fix for me. That was unnecessary, as I was only staying for a few minutes. Seeing me walk through the door is like seeing a UFO zip through the sky: it is very rare, and you better not blink or you gonna miss me. I wasn't planning on sitting down, much less eating.

So when I walked in, eyes got big.

I was temporarily blinded by the flash of my brother's camera. He hugged me. I hugged him back. He was cheesing pretty hard. I was a bit nonchalant. His wife took a picture of us together.

He has a son due in October. I handed him a bag containing my baby gift, a baby blanket I'd been working on.

I didn't know when I would get it to him, and my sister said he'd been asking if I was working on something for the baby, which I was. I was just going to pack it up and place it with the items my sister bought for the baby. But I thought I would give it to him then. He and his wife really like it.



I was talking to my brother and I felt a tap on my thigh. I looked down, and it was my smiling mother. I don't remember the last time I've seen her. She said hello, I said hello. She thought I was pretty and liked my hair. I nodded. She jumped up so I could sit in her seat.

I just looked at the chair. I was NOT trying to stick around, but I sat down anyway.

I think I sat there for a few minutes. Grandma was real happy to see me, and we talked for a minute. I checked my phone messages and texts, and then got up and left.

Grandma walked me out, and obviously didn't want to see me go. She talked my head off on the front steps for 10 minutes, and ran back in the house to get an old birthday gift that she had tucked away for me. I talked to her about her money. I'd given her a debit card a couple years ago, and needed to talk to her about if it was enough and if she had a handle on her bills, etc... (she and I are alike -we HATE being a bother or asking for help). It reminded me that I need to get by and spend more time with her.

But I walked away unscathed, which is usually not the case. I usually get caught up in some weird drama started by my mother. I realized long ago that this is because she doesn't want me around. Alas, I don't show up to family gatherings.

I suppose she is better about that now. I don't really come around to figure that out.

My half hour there was decent. I left, and went to pick up a few groceries for the week.

On my way out of Grandma's neighborhood, I like to drive out slow, and look around at the places I use to go when I was a little girl Here's a picture of the store I use to frequent, which was a 3 minute walk from Grandma's house:

Mrs. Warriors store. The store was at the bottom, and the family lived upstairs.

My afternoon treat back in the 70's: A can of CountryTime lemonade or Tahitian Treat, a bag of Funyans, and Now or Laters (preferably apple or orange), all for 75 cents.

Those were the days.

Mrs. Warrior died years ago. And as you can see, the store is closed.

I'll miss my brother. I hope he prays, and makes the right decisions over in Iraq, and hope he stays safe, does his tour, and come back home. I really do. I don't want his son to be without a father.

So, this week, management, ALL of management, is gone, off on some type of training this week. Thank goodness for that. My coworker Ol' Mean Ass Cynthia has been left in charge to run the whole floor. One of the craziest inmates, is running the asylum, lol.

You know it's bad when we are planning a potluck. There will be music, fun, and games.

Yes, we are happy that the people who make our lives miserable are outta here. I think people made sure NOT to take time off this week just because of this rarity.

I can get a few things done, hopefully, without the monkey wrenches thrown by management. And that's a good thing.

I plan on posting every day this week. Gotta get this quarterly assesment stuff out the way, you know.

With that said... you know how it go.

It's a new week. Make this one count. I plan to be more productive... on purpose.

You do whatever you gotta do, on purpose too...